Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto has shot down hopes of a Super Smash Bros.-style crossover in future Mario movies.
"Right off the bat, I’ll say that unlike something like Super Smash Bros., I don't think you'll have a situation [where] all Nintendo characters would be joining," Miyamoto – who also acts as executive producer on The Super Mario Galaxy Movie – told Polygon.
With the arrival of Glen Powell's Fox McCloud and Pikmin also being deployed in the Mario big-screen sequel, fans had hoped it would all be leading to a Nintendo Cinematic Universe with the most obvious layup of all time: A Super Smash Bros. Movie.
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For Miyamoto, however, those familiar Nintendo icons were there to add an extra flavor to the cosmic adventure instead of teasing any future projects.
"We have plenty of characters to create a movie, and yet we wanted to add a little bit of spice, a little bit of secret cameos here and there. And you'll see that there's one secret character that plays a big role," Miyamoto said.
He added, "So I think there might be introductions of characters like this potentially in the future, something like that."
While Miyamoto stopped short of denying a Smash Bros. Movie would ever take place, Illumination CEO and fellow executive producer Chris Meledandri says long-term thinking over world-building, frankly, isn't on their agenda.
"When you use the term universe, it conjures up for me this idea that there's a group of really smart people in a room with charts up on a wall and they're planning the next 10 years of how all the characters might be weaving in and out of movies. Our process is actually very different from that," Meledandri said. "It's much more geared toward conversations about what would be fun within a certain scene in the movie."
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, starring Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Jack Black, and Anya Taylor-Joy, introduces Brie Larson's Princess Rosalina for a trip across the stars.
The sequel has received mixed reviews thus far, currently sitting at 44% on Rotten Tomatoes. Our own Super Mario Galaxy Movie review praised the improved action and animation, but felt some viewers would be put off by the movie's relentless pacing and treatment of Rosalina.
For more, check out our guides to The Super Mario Galaxy Movie ending and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie post-credits scenes.
Then jump into a whole universe of Nintendo references with our breakdown of the major Super Mario Galaxy Movie Easter eggs.
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